Himalayan Spot Puffin

 Appias lalage lalage (Doubleday, 1842) ചുട്ടി പഫിൻ

Malayalam Name	:	ചുട്ടി പഫിൻ
Family	:	Pierridae
Sub-family	:	Pierinae
Tribe	:	Leptociaini
Order	:	Lepidoptera

Malayalam Name 

:

ചുട്ടി പഫിൻ

Family 

:

Pierridae

Sub-family             

:

Pierinae

Tribe                     

: 

Leptociaini

Order

:

Lepidoptera

DISTRIBUTION

              India and Indochina

STATUS:   Not common

HABITAT

n .

HABITS

Tts

IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES

Medium l size Black and white butterfly with wingspan 55-80 mm.  

Wet-season brood: 

Male. Upperside greyish-white; basal area of fore wing glossy. 

Forewing with the base of costal border thickly irrorated with grey-black scales,  discocellular black spot present,  

Underside. Forewing greyish-white, the black discocellular spot and outer marginal band as on upperside, the band being narrowed anteriorly, the apical area being ochreoiis-yellow; 

Hindwing with a black outer-marginal narrow band, which is almost macular, and, generally, with a connecting submarginal zigzag series of blackish scales, extending inward from the lower sub-costal to the upper median,

Hindwing uniformly ochreous-yellow, with slightly apparent blackish scaled submarginal zigzag slender fascia and a similar but less apparent medial fascia; a distinct black dot on the discocellular veinlet.

Dry season:

Male. Smaller than wet form. 

Upperside. Forewing with the base glossy, the black outer band somewhat narrower, and its discal portion more or less disconnected, its posterior end always terminating at the lower median; the discocellular spot smaller and always isolated. Hindwing either with a slight black linear tip to the upper veins, or entirely white. 

Underside. Forewing with the black outer band less prominent than in wet form, also narrower and its course broken, the apical area being pale greyish-ochreous and slightly irrorated with brown scales, the discocellular spot isolated. Hindwing pale brownish-ochreous, more or less slightly irrorated with brown scales, the submarginal and discal zigzag brownish-scaled fascia slightly-defined, the discocellular black dot distinct. 

SIMILAR SPECIES  Plain Puffin

LARVAL HOST PLANTS

Drypetes oblongifolia and Putranjiva roxburghi  (Putranjivaceae)

LIFE CYCLE

Malayalam Name 

:

ചുട്ടി പഫിൻ

Family 

:

Pierridae

Sub-family             

:

Pierinae

Tribe                     

: 

Leptociaini

Order

:

Lepidoptera

MORE IMAGES

Courtesy 

Write up:Wikipaedia

Images: TNHS

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